Internal combustion engine



Aug. 20, 1940. F. RADELET El AL INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 24, 1937 -T m5 m N MMW w 5 6 VDC "H 5 A 1 9 A .9

Aug. 20, 1940. F. RADELET El AL 2,211,936

- INTERNAL coMBUs'rIoN ENGINE Filed Nov. 24, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i 5' 5" J J 3 5 a INVENTORSI- FERNAND RA DEJLET MAX SCHUL, Byg wfmqwv ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 20, 1940 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Fernand Radelet and Max Schul, Brussels, Belgium; said Schul assignor to said Radelet Application November 24, 1937, Serial No. 176,179

' In Belgium November 28, 1936 13 Claims. (01.123-65) l The present invention relates to exhaust means for internal combustion engines and it has for its object to provide means adapted to ensure a practically complete, evacuation of the burned 5 gases from the cylinders of internal combustion engines by preventing reversal of the flow of gases which, after rushing from the cylinder as a pufi followed by an almost complete vacuum, tend to'flow back into the cylinder before the exhaust ports are closed. Irreversibility of flow will prevent this action and keep in the cylinders a vacuum favorable to a good filling with fresh gases, and consequently a high output of the engine.

In accordance, with our invention we obtain this result in a simple and convenient manner by guiding the exhaust gases, in such manner that on leaving the ports of the'cylinder, they immediately take up a helical whirling movement at such speed that a reversal of such movement does not occur until the exhaust ports are open. To this end, the exhaust device comprises in immediate proximity to the exhaust ports a throttled or nozzle-shaped passage for imparting 25 a great velocity of flow to the outgoing gases,

and an expansion chamber of circular section,

preferably of spiral shape, into which the said passage or nozzle opens tangentially at such angle that the outgoing gases are caused to take up-a helical whirling movement directed towards the outlet of the expansion chamber.

The passage or nozzle may be made of varying section according to changes in the running speed of the engine, and in this case it may comprise a movable wall or lip. Advantageously the expansion chamber has an inlet open to the atmosphere and openings are provided in its spiral wall for allowing air to be sucked in by the whirling flow of gas.

26 Preferably, the expansion chamber surrounds a ring of exhaust ports in the cylinder wall and the outlet passage or nozzle extends over the whole periphery of the cylinder, being divided by a number of guiding partitions or blades for 45 initiating the whirling movement of the gases and directing them under'a widely open angle into the spiral shaped expansion chamber.

In one embodiment of our invention, the ring of guiding blades forms'a rotor which under the action of the gases issuing from the exhaust ports, revolves in opposite direction to the gas flow in the expansion chamber, said rotor continuing to revolve by reason of its momentum and thus cooperating in checking a return flow of the gases into the cylinder. 7 I

iii)

In another embodiment of the invention, the arrangement of the ports issuch thatthey are not opened simultaneously, but they are uncovered by the piston in succession, starting from a port at the starting point of the spiral, the successive ports preferably having 'a gradually increasing cross-section. With this arrangement,

a rapid, continuous and uniform flow of the Figsf3 and 4 likewise respectively illustrate in sectional elevation and in horizontal section a modified construction.

Figs. 5v and 6 are horizontal views illustrating two further modifications. I

Figs. 7 and 8 respectively show in vertical section a. nozzle of variable cross-sections; with a movable lip in two different positions.

Figs. ,9 and 10 show in fragmental sectional elevation and plan view respectively, an exhaust device with rotary guiding blades.

Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively a plan view and an elevation of a spiral exhaust chamber with ports in stepped relation, the cylinder being shown in section in Fig. 11.

Figs. 13 and 14 are cross-sectional views of the chamber on lines IHIL-XIIIand X[V-XIV of Fig. 12 respectively.

Fig. 15 is a development of the ring of stepped ports.

In all the drawings, I denotes the wall of the cylinder of an internal combustion engine and 2 the piston which at the bottom of its stroke uncovers a ring of exhaust ports 3 adapted to allow of an instantaneous escape of the burned gases towards the exhaust device which, aswill be described, is so arranged as to prevent the said gases being returned by the vacuum in said cylinder before the piston 2 has again covered the ports 3.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the exhaust ports 3 open into a peripheral passage or nozzle 4 which has a throttled section like a Venturi-tube, and is partitioned by blades 5 arranged obliquely with respect to the radii of the cylinder so that the outgoing gases -are directed tangentially into a spiral-shaped exhaust chamber 6 of substantially circular cross-section surrounding the peripheral passage. The burned gases fiow through the passage 4 in streams at very high velocity to which the guiding blades 5 impart a rotational movement in the axial plane of said passage 4 towards the outlet of chamber 6. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the passage or nozzle 4 also opens into the chamber 6 tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber so that the gases are also imparted a rotational movement in a direction at right angles to the first rotational movement, the resultant being a helical whirling movement in the spiral chamber, towards the outlet at the wide end of said chamber. The arrangement is such that the momentum of the whirling gas stream keeps its direction of flow for a time longer than that necessary for the piston 2 to close the exhaust ports 3.

In order to feed the whirling gaseous stream so as to ensure as much as possible its uniform fiow under constant pressure through the chamber of gradually increasing sectional area, the starting or small end of said chamber is open to the atmosphere at 6a and openings 1 are provided in its outer wall through which air is sucked in by the gaseous stream.

In the example illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the nozzle or passage has a flaring shape as shown at 4a, and the blades 5 have a stream line shape as shown at M.

The passage or nozzle may comprise two or more sections 41) having each an individual exhaust chamber 61) as diagrammaticallyshown in Fig. 5.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 6, two nozzles 4c and two spiral chambers 60 are provided, the nozzles 40 being separated by a solid wall 8 andhaving an eccentric outer. outline relatively to the cylinder, while the chambers 60 surround the said nozzles 40 and have an eccentric outer outline relatively to that of the nozzles. With this arrangement the exhaust chambers 60 may be angularly adjustable with respect to the ring of nozzles and a slight angular movement of said chambers manually controlled, for example, by the toothed sectors I50 permits of varying the respective sectional areas of the exhaust chambers and of the nozzles, and thus of varying the rate of gas flow according to the speed of the engine. In Fig. 6 the chambers are shown in a slightly ofiset position with respect to the nozzles.

Another manner of varying the rate of gas flow to suit the rate of speed of the. engine consists in varying the section of the nozzle in order to throttle more or less the gaseous streams. In Figs. 7 and 8, the lower wall or lip 9 of the peripheral nozzle id is movable across the direction of flow of the gases through the nozzle so as to vary the cross-sectional area thereof. This variation may be controlled in any desired manner, for example automatically by means responsive to variations in the depression in the inlet pipe of the engine. To this end, the weight of the movable lip 9 of the nozzle may be balanced by a spring I6 and the lip may be connected to a bellows I! connected by a pipe l2 with the inlet pipe IL behind the throttle valve I4 in said pipe. The volume of bellows ltfollows the variation in the depression in pipe I3 and causes corresponding movements of the lip 9 to take place, whereby the cross-sectional area of the nozzle is correspondingly varied. As shown in Fig. 8, the movable lip 9 can completely throttle the passage through nozzle 4 so that, if required, it can act as a check valve to prevent back flow of the gases into the cylinder.

In the constructional forms described above the guiding blades 5 of the exhaust device are fixed. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 9 and 10 the ring of blades 5e forms a rotor capable of freely rotating about the cylinder in front of the ring of exhaust ports 3e, said rotor being located in the peripheral nozzle 4e which opens tangentially into the spiral exhaust chamber 66. The rotor is rotated at high speed by the gaseous streams which flow between the blades 5e and then whirl through the exhaust chamber. After the burned gases have flown out the rotor is kept in rotation by its momentum and thus prevents the gases flowing back into the cylinder, for example if the engine runs slowly and the closing of the ports 3e by the piston occurs after the whirling movement of the gases in the spiral chamber has ceased being irreversible. The rotation of the blades also renders the outward flow of the gases more uniform. The embodiment shown in Figs. 11 to 15 has no movable parts, but its arrangement is such that the piston does not simultaneously open the exhaust ports as in the previous examples, but opens them in succession, starting from the port nearest the starting point of the spiral chamber. This is obtained by providing a stepwise arrangement of the exhaust ports in the cylinder wall If and in the adjacent wall of the exhaust chamber. The stepped exhaust ports 3 3g, 3h 3s are arranged in a ring, the port 3f situated uppermost, i. e., the farthest away from the low dead point of the piston, being at the starting point of the spiral chamber 6f. As shown in Fig. 15 the ports are in overlapping relation to keep up a continuous flow throughout the exhaust.

When it nears the bottom of its stroke the piston first uncovers port 3] then successively the other ports. Thus the gases are first expelled under relatively high pressure and at high speed at the narrow end of the spiral and they initiate a quick helical whirling movement in which join the gases issuing from the subsequent ports, thus setting up a flow in a predetermined direction which causes a smooth and quick exhaust of the mass of burned gases. In order to keep up the continuity of flow during the entire exhaust, the ports are preferably given a gradually increasing cross section. As shown the last few ports may have a uniform cross section and they may be arranged at the same level to be uncovered at the same time.

Instead of being arranged in stepped relation the ports may be located at the same level and a piston having an oblique or stepped edge may be used to open them successively. It will be understood that further constructional details may be varied without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a peripheral exhaust port in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, a spiral exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section surrounding said cylinder, and a throttled peripheral passage connecting said exhaust port with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said exhaust chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder,

peripheral exhaust port in the wall of said cylinder, adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, a spiral exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section surrounding said cylinder, a throttled peripheral passage connecting said exhaust port with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said exhaust chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber, and partitions in said passage, said partitions being arranged at an angle to the radii of said cylinder to direct the outgoing gases obliquely along the curved wall of said exhaust chamber.

3. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a peripheral exhaust port in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, a spiral exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section surrounding said cylinder, a throttled peripheral passage connecting said exhaust port with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said exhaust chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber, said spiral exhaust chamber flaring outwardly, an air inlet at the narrow end of said chamber and an outlet to the atmosphere at its wide end.

4. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a peripheral exhaust port in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, a spiral exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section surrounding said cylinder, a throttled peripheral passage connecting said exhaust port with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said exhaust chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber, said spiral exhaust chamber flaring outwardly, an air outlet at the narrow end of said chamber and an outlet to the atmosphere at its wide end, narrow openings being provided at intermediate points of the outer wall of said chamber, said openings communicating with the atmosphere.

5. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a ring of exhaust ports in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, an exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section extending around said ring of ports, said chamber having an inner wall concentric with said cylinder and an outer wall of spiral outline, a throttled peripheral passage connecting said exhaust ports with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber, and partitions in said peripheral passage, said partitions being each arranged at an angle to a radius of said cylinder.

6. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a ring of exhaust ports in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, an exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section extending around said ring of ports, said chamber having an inner wall concentric with said cylinder and an outer Wall of spiral outline, a peripheral passage connecting said exhaust ports with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber, partitions in said passage imparting an oblique direction to the outgoing gases rushing tangentially into said chamber, said exhaust chamber being angularly' adjustable about said cylinder.

'7. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a ring of exhaust ports in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, an'e'xhaust chamber ofsubstantially circular cross-section extending around said ring of ports, said chamber having an inner wall concentric with said cylinder and an outer wall of spiral outline, a peripheral passage connecting said exhaust ports with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber, partitions in said peripheral passage, said partitions being each arranged at an angle to a radius of said cylinder, and means for varying the sectional area of said peripheral passage.

8. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a ring of exhaust ports in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, an exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section extending around said ring of ports, said chamber having an inner wall concentric with said cylinder and an outer wall of spiral outline, a peripheral passage connecting said exhaust ports with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said :hamber, partitions in said passage, a suction pipe, and means responsive to the depression in said suction pipe for varying the sectional area of said peripheral passage.

9. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a ring of exhaust ports in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, an exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section extending around said ring of ports, said chamber having an inner wall concentric with said cylinder and an outer Wall of spiral outline, a peripheral passage connecting said exhaust ports with said exhaust chamber, said passage opening into said chamber tangentially to the cross-sectional curvature of said chamber, partitions in said passage, and means movable transversely of the direction of flow of the exhaust gases in said peripheral passage for varying the sectional area of said passage.

10. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a ring of exhaust ports in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, an exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section surrounding said ring of ports, said chamber having an inner wall concentric with said cylinder and an outer wall of spiral outline, a peripheral passage connecting said exhaust ports With said exhaust chamber, said passage opening tangentially into said chamber, a ring of blades forming partitions in said peripheral passages, said ring of blades forming a rotor adapted to revolve under the action of the outgoing exhaust gases.

11. In an internal combustion engine, the combination'of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a row of exhaust ports in the wall of said cylinder adapted to be successively uncovered by the piston at one end of its stroke, an exhaust chamber of substantially circular cross-section surrounding said row of ports, said exhaust cham-.

cylinder and an outer wall of spiral outline, passages connecting said ports with said exhaust chamber and opening tangentially into said chamber, the port situated near the narrow end of said chamber being arranged to be first uncovered by said piston.

12. In an internal combustion engine according to claim 11, the said exhaust ports being arranged in overlapping relation to keep up a continuous flow of outgoing gases throughout the exhaust.

13. In an internal combustion engine according to claim 11, the said exhaust ports having sectional areas of increasing size from the port 5 arranged to be first uncovered by the piston.

FERNAND RADELE'I'. MAX SCHUL. 

